Guide to ini Optimization

[Ralsu]

The ini That Fits Like a Glove

Vanguard is a graphically rich game that can put even the best system to work, but it is also designed for the average gamer's system. Ralsu walks you through the configuration options with an eye toward performance for low end systems and quality for high end systems. Then he provides his own ini templates that readers can copy and paste to make fast changes:

In my testing, Volumetric Clouds had the greatest influence of FPS of all options. This option would often cost me as much as 20-25 FPS when turned on!

• Read the full Vanguard Guide today!

[Puds]

Very nice guide, most helpful I've found yet.

Figured most of it out after a week of mulling and tweaking it myself.

Are you sure about this Section of the guide??? seems backward to me.

-------------------------------------------------------
Simple Terrain
ini names: GlobalSimpleTerrain=

What it does: When turned on, this option provides less details about your terrain in order to give you a better overall picture.

Checking the bubble turns on the option, which displays as True in the ini file. When the bubble is not checked, the option is turned off and the line in the ini file reads as False.

High End: Keep this option turned on to enjoy all of the details of the vast world of Telon.

Low End: Keep this option turned off. You don't have to see every contour of every rock to enjoy Vanguard.
-------------------------------------------------------------


Turning the option on simplifies the terrain which is good to increase performance on low end systems, but certainly not required for high end systems.

[eXperience]

Uhm, where do you have the Infos about the Hardware Occlusion Setting from?

Occlusion is the rejection of vertices which are not seen in the current scene (behind objects). This can be done in Hardware (on the GPU) or in Software (on the CPU).


eX

[Xeon]

This is a well illustrated guide but i have my doughts as to how effective the ini changes will be from the given High to low settings

I have spent some time testing & the main ones that worked for me are:

D3DDrv.D3DRenderDevice]
DetailTextures=True
DetailMode=3
UsePrecaching=True <--------------------******
UseTrilinear=False
AdapterNumber=-1
ReduceMouseLag=False
UseTripleBuffering=True <-----------------******
UseHardwareTL=True
UseHardwareVS=True
UseCubemaps=True
DesiredRefreshRate=85 (match this setting to your monitor. for LCD it should be 60)
UseCompressedLightmaps=True
UseStencil=True
MaxPixelShaderVersion=255
UseVSync=True <------------------------******
DetailTexMipBias=0.8
DefaultTexMipBias=-0.5
UseNPatches=False
TesselationFactor=1.0
CheckForOverflow=False
DisableShaderModel3=True
DisableMultiGPUOpt=False
DisableHighDetailShaders=False
Use16BitNormalMaps=false

Note: the General texture details are shown at maximum in both the high and low but further fps gains can be obtained by changing these - 1 being the highest and 7 being the lowest

TextureDetailWorld=(1-7)
TextureDetailPlayerSkin=(1-7)
TextureDetailNPCSkin=(1-7)
TextureDetailWeaponSkin=(1-7)
TextureDetailTerrain=(1-7)
TextureDetailTerrainDetail=(1-7)
TextureDetailInterface=0
TextureDetailRenderMap=(1-7)
TextureDetailLightmap=(1-7)
TextureDetailShadowMap=(1-7)
TextureDetailNormalMap=(1-7)
TextureDetailBillboard=(1-7)

[Xeon]

As you are aware one of the best features of Vanguard is the Graphics.

Getting the most enjoyable ingame experience for many is a compromise between obtaining the best video quality and the smoothest gameplay.

So without being an expert where do you start?

By putting your mouse pointer over the ingame green meter will show you your FPS (frames per second)
You should try and get this to 18fps+ as your eyes will see any figure above this as smooth.

i would play with your ingame video settings first as in most cases this is all you need to do...
Under Render Quality at the top:

Enable the high or very high performance settings = Smoothest (higher fps)
Enable the high quality or highest quality settings = Best video detail (lower fps)

The most beneficial effects come by turning off Volumetric Clouds and reducing the Far Clipping Plane (this can also be done using the [ ] keys)
In towns you will notice some hitching and this can be minimised by standing still for a few seconds to allow components to load from your drive before moving.

Make sure you have uptodate display drivers installed from the video cards manufacturers web sites.

There are still noticeable delays as you cross chunk lines due to map data loading from your hard drive - live with it as its the same for everyone.
This is particularly noticeable with slow notebook drives.
Its the only way to get large continents/maps into a relative small amount of memory (they are loaded in chunks as you go along)
You can see through these lines so the visual benefits are worth the delays, although look forward to more optimisations.

De-fragging your hard drive after each patch is a must!

Hang in there! - Sigil are constantly working on optimisations and hope to obtain a further 10% fps before release.

Having spent a lot of time beta testing Vanguard i have an accurate frame rate displayed on my toolbar.
I know what my eyes see and can determine for myself what looks smooth and what doesn't.
Mentally i compose a picture by looking at the frame-rate when things are not as seamless as they might be.
I wish to add my eyes are in perfect health.
Take my word for it, the average frame-rate displayed ingame is not perfect and the true frame rate is so quickly updated it looks blurred.
FPS is an emotive subject but i'm looking at it purely from a technical point of view.
What i can tell you is that when my frame-rate is constantly above ~ 20fps the game looks smooth and is a pleasure to watch.
My main interest is when the frame-rate falls below 15fps as it is at this critical point when i notice the picture to be less than perfect.
Its not my concern if 50fps or 100fps is the best - i'm looking at what the minimum acceptable is.

Hopefully in the not too distant future will all have "Toy Story" silky smooth graphics on a $50 video card and then it will no longer be an issue.

______________

Attached below is a vgclient.ini performance tuned for my 7900GS gives 22-33fps in Khal and 45-55fps out of town.
(tested to give a full 10fps+ gain on the default + video card runs 10deg cooler!)
rename existing vgclient.ini to vgclient.old - download and rename .txt to .ini
Save to your Vanguard/bin folder - enjoy

The .ini below has all the texture details set to minimum - If you need more quality change the Render Quality ingame as described above.

______________

[Ralsu]

Originally Posted by Puds

Are you sure about this Section of the guide??? seems backward to me.

Thanks for the catch Puds. I did accidentally make it backwards in the text. I had it right in the ini templates. It's all fixed now. Thanks again.

[Ralsu]

Originally Posted by eXperience

Uhm, where do you have the Infos about the Hardware Occlusion Setting from?

Aside from the tool tip, I spent some time with this document |HERE| and this webpage |HERE|--oh and this document at NVIDIA.

Originally Posted by eXperience

Occlusion...can be done in Hardware (on the GPU) or in Software (on the CPU).

Would you recommend differently than I do? Whether HOQ are performed by the processor of the GPU, I would still think high end users can keep it on while low end users will want to turn it off.

[Ralsu]

Originally Posted by Xeon

I have spent some time testing & the main ones that worked for me are:

UsePrecaching=True

Agreed. I personally use this. Changes made to my ini templates.

Originally Posted by Xeon

UseTripleBuffering=True

Again, my personal ini file has this setting. I've never had any problems. Have you heard of anyone who has experienced any flickering due to the use of triple buffering? Changes made to my ini templates.

Originally Posted by Xeon

UseVSync=True

Agreed. Changes made to my ini templates.

Originally Posted by Xeon

Note: the General texture details are shown at maximum in both the high and low but further fps gains can be obtained by changing these - 1 being the highest and 7 being the lowest

TextureDetailWorld=(1-7)
TextureDetailPlayerSkin=(1-7)
TextureDetailNPCSkin=(1-7)
TextureDetailWeaponSkin=(1-7)
TextureDetailTerrain=(1-7)
TextureDetailTerrainDetail=(1-7)
TextureDetailInterface=0
TextureDetailRenderMap=(1-7)
TextureDetailLightmap=(1-7)
TextureDetailShadowMap=(1-7)
TextureDetailNormalMap=(1-7)
TextureDetailBillboard=(1-7)

Confirmed. Changes made to my ini templates.

[Xeon]

Originally Posted by Ralsu

Again, my personal ini file has this setting. I've never had any problems. Have you heard of anyone who has experienced any flickering due to the use of triple buffering?

UseTripleBuffering=True (Only do this if you also set the UseVsync=true)

[eXperience]

Originally Posted by Ralsu

...
Would you recommend differently than I do? Whether HOQ are performed by the processor of the GPU, I would still think high end users can keep it on while low end users will want to turn it off.

No, but the description in the Optimization Guide sounds like the Game will change the drawing/viewing distance some kind of automatically on the fly dependent on the Framerate. It does not change what you will actually see on the screen, just the place (CPU or GPU) where the hidden vertices will be determined and trashed.


eX